Classic Mornings

Foo Fighters set aside a portion of their headlining performance at this past weekend’s Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware to perform a string of classic rock songs, including Alice Cooper‘s “School’s Out,” the Rolling Stones‘ “Miss You,” Van Halen‘s “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” — with drummer Taylor Hawkins on vocals — and Queen and David Bowie‘s “Under Pressure.”

Frontman Dave Grohl introduced that segment of the set during Friday’s (June 20th) show by telling the 80,000-strong crowd, “I love rock and roll as much as the next guy, maybe even f***ing more than the next guy. I love being in the Foo Fighters. But tonight, for the next four or five songs, we’re a f***ing bar band called The Holy S***s that plays f***ing classic rock songs.”

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins told us that classic rock is an undeniable part of his influences: [“It’s there, you know, and I wear ’em heavily on my sleeve, my influences. It’s in my DNA now, you know. I’ve listened to it enough. I’m under the influence, no question, you know.”] SOUNDCUE (:09 OC: . . . question, you know.)

The rest of the Foos’ set featured many of their staple hits, but no new material from their upcoming eighth studio album.

Guitarist Chris Shiflett played the entire show seated in a chair onstage, with Grohl announcing, “Chris broke his foot or his ankle or something, but he came out here to play for you guys anyway.”

The new Foo Fighters album will be out this fall, in conjunction with the premiere of a new HBO documentary series called Sonic Highways. The Dave Grohl-directed series will follow the band to eight iconic studios in different parts of the country, documenting the region’s musical history as well as the making of the record.